Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six

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Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six
Genre(s) Tactical shooter
First-person shooter
Developer(s) Red Storm Entertainment
Ubisoft Montreal
Ubisoft Shanghai
Ubisoft Quebec
Publisher(s) Ubisoft
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows, Nintendo 64, PlayStation, Classic Mac OS, Game Boy Color, Dreamcast, Game Boy Advance, Xbox, PlayStation 2, GameCube, macOS, Mobile phone, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360, iOS, Xperia Play, Android, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Amazon Luna, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S
First release Rainbow Six
August 21, 1998
Latest release Rainbow Six Mobile
March 2024 [1]

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six (often shortened to Rainbow Six or R6) is a tactical shooter video game series by Red Storm Entertainment and Ubisoft, marketed under the Tom Clancy's banner of military-themed video games. Based on the novel Rainbow Six by American author Tom Clancy, it revolves around a fictional international counterterrorist organization called "Rainbow". Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six started in 1998 and as of 2024 consists of 13 entries with 6 expansion pack from early installments.

Contents

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six is one of the most popular and most influential tactical shooter series, and early installments in the series helped propel the tactical shooter genre into the mainstream. Since the mid-2010s, a significant esports scene has formed around newer Rainbow Six games.

The original game in the series is Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six (1998) .

Setting

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six follows a secret international counterterrorist organization called "Rainbow" (or "Team Rainbow"; capitalization varies between "Rainbow" and "RAINBOW"). The series is set in the canon Tom Clancy's universe, which is mostly shared with Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell and Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon .

Formed in 1999 by the world's military, law enforcement, and intelligence agencies to combat the post-Cold War global rise in terrorism, Rainbow is a rapid reaction force consisting of "operators" from nations and organizations worldwide, ranging from special forces soldiers and police tactical unit members to intelligence officers and field experts, trained and equipped to be the most capable counterterrorist professionals in the world, able to handle any terrorist attack, hostage rescue, or takedown that local authorities cannot conduct in an effective, reliable, or timely manner. Rainbow is headquartered in Hereford, England, but has global jurisdiction and can base themselves at any intelligence agency's headquarters (such as Langley, Virginia) should their continued presence in a region be necessary.

Due to the sensitive nature of their operations, such as being deployed in multinational incidents or against threats possessing weapons of mass destruction, and to simply prevent terrorists from knowing of their existence, Rainbow operates in complete secrecy, with only the most senior government, military, and intelligence officials knowing they even exist. Cover-ups are often conducted after Rainbow's deployments to disguise operators as local police or military units, omit details that could alarm the public, or prevent the reporting of certain deployments.

The leader of Rainbow is designated "Rainbow Six" (or just "Six"), a reference to the American rank code for captain (O-6). [2] The first Six was former U.S. Navy SEAL and CIA operations officer John Clark, who led the organization from its founding until his retirement. [lower-alpha 1] Since then, numerous individuals have taken the role of Six, the most recent being Harry Pandey. [lower-alpha 2]

Though the Rainbow Six universe is generally grounded in reality and maintains its basic premise, recent installments and plot events partially depart from the series' established setting or Rainbow's traditional policies, with Rainbow hosting a publicly-visible tactical competition, [lower-alpha 2] recruiting non-government or independent operators such as private military company "Nighthaven", [lower-alpha 2] and being deployed to defeat invading extraterrestrials. [lower-alpha 3]

Video games

The first game was developed by Red Storm Entertainment, while the novel was being written. [3] Red Storm was acquired in 2000 by Ubisoft, which has continued to manage the series ever since. [4]

List of games

Overview of released games
Title PC versions Console
versions		 Handheld console and mobile Comments
Rainbow Six Windows (1998); Mac OS (1999) N64, PS1 (1999); DC (2000) GBC (2000)
Rainbow Six Mission Pack: Eagle Watch Windows (1999) DC, PS1 (1999)—expansion pack
Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear Windows (1999); macOS (2001) DC (2000); PS1 (2001) GBA (2002)
Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear Mission Pack Urban Operations Windows (2000) DC (2000)—expansion pack
Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear Covert Ops Essentials Windows (2000)——expansion pack (stand-alone)
Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear Black Thorn Windows (2001)——expansion pack (stand-alone)
Rainbow Six: Take-Down – Missions in Korea Windows (2001)——Not released outside of South Korea (stand-alone)
Rainbow Six: Lone Wolf— PS1 (2002)—
Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield Windows, macOS (2003) Xbox (2003); PS2, GameCube (2004) Mobile phone (2004)
Rainbow Six 3: Athena Sword Windows, macOS (2004)——expansion pack
Rainbow Six 3: Black Arrow — Xbox (2004)—
Rainbow Six 3: Iron Wrath Windows (2005)——expansion pack (DLC)
Rainbow Six: Broken Wings—— Mobile phone (2003)
Rainbow Six: Urban Crisis—— Mobile phone (2003)
Rainbow Six: Lockdown Windows (2006) PS2, Xbox, GameCube (2005) Mobile phone (2005)
Rainbow Six: Critical Hour — Xbox (2006)—
Rainbow Six: Vegas Windows (2006) Xbox 360 (2006); PS3 (2007) Mobile phone (2006); PSP (2007)
Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 Windows (2008) PS3, Xbox 360 (2008)—
Rainbow Six: Shadow Vanguard —— iOS, Xperia Play (2011); Android (2012)Based on the original
Rainbow Six Siege [5] Windows (2015) PS4, Xbox One (2015); PS5, Xbox Series X/S (2020); Luna (2022)—Online-only reboot
Rainbow Six Extraction [6] Windows (2022) PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Luna —
Rainbow Six Mobile [7] —— iOS, Android (2023)Based on Rainbow Six Siege

Notes

  1. ↑ As depicted in Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Critical Hour .
  2. 1 2 3 As depicted in Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege and its later updates.
  3. ↑ As depicted in Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Extraction , which is considered non-canon.

Related Research Articles

<i>Tom Clancys Rainbow Six</i> (video game) 1998 video game

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six is a 1998 tactical shooter video game developed and published by Red Storm Entertainment for Microsoft Windows, with later ports for the Nintendo 64, PlayStation, Mac OS, Game Boy Color, and Dreamcast. It is the first installment in the Rainbow Six series. Based on the Tom Clancy novel of the same name, the game follows Rainbow, a secret international counterterrorist organization, and the conspiracy they unravel as they handle a seemingly random spike in terrorism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tactical shooter</span> Video game terminology

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Rainbow Six is a techno-thriller novel written by Tom Clancy and released on August 3, 1998. It is the second book to primarily focus on John Clark, one of the recurring characters in the Ryanverse, after Without Remorse (1993); it also features his son-in-law, Domingo "Ding" Chavez. Rainbow Six follows "Rainbow", a secret international counterterrorist organization headed by Clark, and the complex apocalyptic conspiracy they unravel after handling multiple seemingly random terrorist attacks.

<i>Tom Clancys Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield</i> 2003 video game

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red Storm Entertainment</span> American video game developer

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<i>Tom Clancys Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear</i> 1999 video game

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear is a 1999 tactical first-person shooter video game developed and published by Red Storm Entertainment for Microsoft Windows, with later ports for the Dreamcast, Mac OS, PlayStation, and Game Boy Advance. The sequel to 1998's Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six, it is the second installment in the Rainbow Six series and the last to be published by Red Storm before its acquisition by Ubi Soft in 2000. The game's plot follows the secret international counterterrorist organization Rainbow as they investigate nuclear terrorism in Eastern Europe.

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<i>Tom Clancys Rainbow Six: Lockdown</i> 2005 video game

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<i>Tom Clancys Rainbow Six: Critical Hour</i> 2006 video game

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Critical Hour is a 2006 tactical first-person shooter video game developed by Ubisoft Quebec and published by Ubisoft exclusively for the Xbox. It is the fifth game in the Rainbow Six series. The game's plot, set during John Clark's retirement as leader of international counterterrorist organization Rainbow, recaps several past missions Clark handled during his time commanding Rainbow.

<i>Tom Clancys Rainbow Six: Vegas</i> 2006 video game

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas is the sixth game in the Rainbow Six series of video games. It was released in November 2006 for the Xbox 360, December 2006 for Windows, and in June 2007 for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable. The game's storyline follows a new team that is dispatched to Las Vegas, Nevada to defeat international terrorist Irena Morales and her army of mercenaries that are repeatedly attacking key locations in the city. A sequel developed by Ubisoft Montreal was released on Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 consoles in March 2008 and on PC in April 2008. The game is also playable on Xbox Series X with online features still available.

<i>Tom Clancys Rainbow Six: Take-Down – Missions in Korea</i> 2001 video game

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<i>Tom Clancys Rainbow Six Extraction</i> 2022 video game

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Extraction is an online multiplayer tactical shooter video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. A spin-off of Rainbow Six Siege (2015), Extraction is a cooperative multiplayer game in which players must work together to combat and defeat a type of parasite-like aliens called the Archæans. The game was released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Amazon Luna, Google Stadia, Windows, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S on January 20, 2022. It received mixed reviews from critics.

<i>Tom Clancys The Division Heartland</i> Upcoming video game

Tom Clancy's The Division Heartland is an upcoming free-to-play third person shooter action game developed by Red Storm Entertainment and published by Ubisoft. It is a standalone spin-off set in The Division universe. Heartland is set to be released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Amazon Luna.

References

  1. ↑ "Ubisoft has added Rainbow Six and The Division mobile games to its 2023-24 line-up". VGC. 16 February 2023. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  2. ↑ Tucker, Jake (4 December 2015). "The agony and ecstasy behind the first Rainbow Six". Eurogamer.net. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
  3. ↑ Upton, Brian (21 January 2000). "Postmortem: Redstorm's Rainbow Six". Gamasutra . Archived from the original on 4 August 2001. Retrieved 6 August 2007.
  4. ↑ "Life at Red Storm". Red Storm Entertainment. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  5. ↑ "Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege | Ubisoft (US)". www.ubisoft.com. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  6. ↑ "Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Extraction | Ubisoft (US)". www.ubisoft.com. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  7. ↑ "Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Mobile | Ubisoft (US)". www.ubisoft.com. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
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